Dear girl who’s got it all,

Lose it.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” -Matthew 16:25 (NIV)

I get it. You’re a perfectionist. You want to be the best and have the best and you’ll settle for absolutely nothing less.

I get it because I am you. At least I was you.

I’m not telling you to lower your standards. I am not telling you to stop trying as hard as you can. I am not telling you God does not want you to succeed.

I’m telling you to stop living by worldly standards. I’m telling you to stop trying so hard for your own gain. I’m telling you to live by God’s standards, and work for his glory, and see blessings unfold 100 times.

I'm telling you that you don’t have to be the girl that has it all, at least not all the world thinks you need. The world so easily forgets what having it all really looks like.

I’m telling you to lose. Lose your idea of perfect. Lose the intimidating “I’ve got it all together” facade. Lose the life you think you have to live because the world tells you you’ll be loved if you live it, and gain the life God wants for you. Lose your “perfect” plans, and gain His.

I’d been told my entire the life that one of the hardest and most valuable lessons I could learn was learning to lose. I thought people who said that were quitters, passive, crazy, jealous, until I opened the good book and saw that saying wasn’t formulated as an excuse for people who didn’t have what it took to get what they wanted. It came from the one who holds everything and anything, on heaven and earth, the all-powerful and perfect.

It came from the one who truly has it all. And as hard as it still is to lose, even when I'm losing for Him, it always proves worth it because he has it all- all the plans, all the peace, all the power, all the hope, all the guidance, all the comfort, all the love, all you could ever want or need.

Lose your life. Lose your everything. Gain His.

You’ll never really be the girl who has it all until you do. You'll be empty. You'll be hurt. You'll be exhausted. You'll be lost.

He has it all, and the best part is, He wants to give it all to you. But to gain it all, you've got to lose it.

You'll never really have it all until you do.

Sincerely,

A struggling perfectionist like you